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May 31, 2008

Seth, Computers and Dams

Seth was Adam and Eve's third son.

The first computer, called the "Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer" or ENIAC contained 17,468 vacuum tubes, 7,200 crystal diodes, 1,500 relays, 70,000 resistors, 10,000 capacitors and 5 million hand-soldered joints. It weighed 30 short tons and took up 680 square feet.

The concrete in Hoover Dam is still in the process of curing.

May 30, 2008

Presidents, Livers and Vinegar

Neither of the two presidents born in Vermont — Chester A. Arthur nor Calvin Coolidge — were originally elected into the office of President.

Some ancient Greeks and Mesopotamians believed the soul was located in the liver.

The word "vinegar" derives from the French vin aigre, meaning "sour wine." Vinaigre is derived from the old French vyn egre, which evolved from the Latin vinum acer, which also meant sour wine.

May 29, 2008

Swastika, Cold Summers and Shingles

A town in Ontario was named Swastika in 1911 because of a lucky gold strike.

In 1816, often called the "year without a summer," New Englanders suffered frost, snow, and ice from April to November. The 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia was to blame.

You don't get shingles until you've had chickenpox.

May 28, 2008

Werewolves, Hall of Famers and Dutch Tongues

In the 16th century, werewolf hunts were almost as common as witch hunts.

Several people have been inducted into the basketball Hall of Fame more than once.

Suriname is the only Dutch-speaking nation in South America.

May 27, 2008

Phantom Limbs, Feedback and Route 66

About 30% of post-op transsexual men feel a "phantom penis" even after their surgery. Heterosexual men who lose their genitals (usually to cancer) are twice as likely to experience the sensation of a "phantom penis."

When Dublin's most famous rockers were 14 to 16 years old, they called their band Feedback. They also used the name The Hype for a while before settling in on the name they would make famous, U2.

Old Route 66 stretched from Buckingham Fountain, in Chicago, Illinois, to the Santa Monica Pier, west of Los Angeles, California.

May 26, 2008

Waterloo, Decoration Day and Flags

Waterloo, New York proclaims itself to be the birthplace of the Memorial Day holiday.

Memorial Day in the U.S. was formerly known as Decoration Day.

It is tradition to fly the American flag at half-staff from dawn to noon, local time, on Memorial Day.

May 25, 2008

Vets, Bears and Last Known Locations

There are only three known confirmed American veterans of World War I still alive, and only one, Frank Buckles, saw combat.

There are more American black bears than all other kinds of bears put together.

Lae, the second-largest city in Papua New Guinea, is the last place Amelia Earhart was seen alive.

May 24, 2008

Trees, Victors and Card Players

There are 75 Giant Sequoia groves. All are found on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain range.

"Victor" was Saddam Hussein's codename while in U.S. custody.

Q: What did Wild Bill Hickok, Buster Keaton and World Series-fixer Arnold Rothstein have in common?
A: Each died playing poker.

May 23, 2008

Rivers, Characters and Candy Bars

Two of the four rivers that joined at the Biblical Garden of Eden have never been found.

Almost one in four Britons think Winston Churchill was a fictional character.

In the original 3 Musketeers candy, the three were vanilla, chocolate and strawberry.

May 22, 2008

Paper, Band Names and Insects

The invention of paper is generally credited to a Chinese eunuch named Tsai Lun.

The musical band Kasabian named themselves after Linda Kasabian — the getaway driver for the Tate-LaBianca murderers.

Roughly 1,400 species of insects and worms are eaten by one group of people or another.

May 21, 2008

Disney Trash, Kills, Virtual Players

Disneyland guests generate thirty tons of trash per day.

World War I flying ace The Red Baron was officially credited with 80 confirmed air combat victories.

Over 10 million of the world's 16 million massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORG) players play World of Warcraft.

May 20, 2008

Football, Traffic and Wine

The Arizona Cardinals, whose home stadium hosted the last Super Bowl, have won just one postseason game in the past 60 years.

Americans waste 3.7 billion hours each year due to traffic delays.

Cabernet sauvignon is the hybrid offspring of sauvignon blanc and cabernet franc.

May 19, 2008

Clams, Contraceptives and Drugs

The geoduck isn't a duck; it's a clam.

Wisconsin was the last state in the U.S. to legalize contraceptives for unmarried persons.

Puerto Rico is the world's largest manufacturer of pharmaceutical products.

May 18, 2008

40 Days, Gatorade and Happy Days

Some biblical scholars believe that the designation of the number 40 in Aramaic (the language of the ancient Bible) simply means "many." So 40 days and 40 nights might simply have meant "many days and many nights."

Gatorade was named for the University of Florida Gators where it was first developed.

Harold Gould played Howard Cunningham in the Love, American Style episode sub-titled "Love and the Happy Days", from which "Happy Days" was spun off.

May 17, 2008

Hair and Makeup, the Michelin Man and Long Strands of Film

What does $42,000 buy you these days? If you are Sofia Coppola, that will cover hair and makeup for your film premiere.

Bibendum was the name they first gave to the cartoon Michelin Man.

A typical feature length movie uses as much as two miles of film.

May 16, 2008

Songs, Airlines and Religious Schools

About 37 percent of the songs on the country music charts feature references to drugs or alcohol. That's a  lot compared to the 14 percent of rock songs with such references, but it's far less than the 77 percent of rap music songs that do the same.

QANTAS stands for Queensland and Northern Territories Airline Service.

The University of Southern California was founded by Methodists. It only became nonsectarian in 1926.

May 15, 2008

Mice, Vice and Rice

Happy 80th birthday to that famous Ub Iwerks / Walt Disney creation, Mickey Mouse.

By some historians' estimates, as many as 90% of women living in Deadwood, South Dakota in 1876 were prostitutes.

Sony got its start as the maker of a rice cooker.

May 14, 2008

Workers, Dishes and Trees

One-third of California workers were foreign born in 2006.

Chop suey is not a native Chinese dish; it was invented by Chinese immigrants in California.

The General Sherman, a giant sequoia about 3,500 years old, in California's Sequoia National Park, is the largest plant in the world. The tree is more than 270 feet tall and has a circumference of more than 100 feet.

May 13, 2008

Chromosomes, Ripley and Smart Guitarists

Brothers who have the same father almost always have identical Y chromosomes.

Mr. Ripley, believe it or not, played baseball for the New York Giants, but he broke his arm in his first game and went back to drawing cartoons.

Brian May, lead guitarist from rock band Queen, holds a doctorate in astrophysics.

May 12, 2008

Concrete, New York Teams and GoGoGo

Hoover Dam has enough concrete to pave a two-lane road from San Francisco to New York.

The Yankees play their home games in the Bronx. The Mets play theirs in Queens. The Dodgers played in Brooklyn and the Giants played in Manhattan. Staten Island never had a modern major league baseball team.

The main character in Mach Go Go Go was named Gō Mifune (Mifune Gō). He was given the name "Speed Racer" in the English version of the show.

May 11, 2008

Mother's Day, Petes and Queens

In honor of this 100th Mother's Day, the traditional must-give gift to your precious mother is a whiute carnation.

Former NFL Commissioner "Pete" Rozelle was born not "Pete", but Alvin Ray Rozelle, in South Gate, California.

Queens, New York, is thought to have been named for Catherine of Braganza, the queen consort, wife of Charles II of England. She suffered at least two miscarriages and never produced an heir.

May 10, 2008

Duels, Penn and Ganymede

Lincoln once dueled a political enemy with broadswords. After the duel, the two became friends.

Q: Which half of the comedy duo Penn & Teller comes from Pennsylvania?
A: Teller, of course. If it was Penn, it wouldn't be funny.

Jupiter's moon Ganymede is larger than Mercury or Pluto. If it orbited the Sun independent of Jupiter, it would be considered a planet.

May 09, 2008

Mercury, Locusts and Voice Actors

Inhaling odorless and colorless mercury vapor is far more lethal than ingesting liquid mercury.

Even in still air, a locust swarm can travel seven miles per hour.

Peter Fernandez was the actor who voiced Speed Racer and Racer X in the animated series

May 08, 2008

Metals, Apples and Border States

Rhodium is the most expensive of the precious metals, selling for well over $6,000 an ounce.

Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak chose the name Apple for their computer in honor of the Beatles' record label Apple Records.

Tennessee is bordered by eight states — Kentucky, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia and Missouri, which also borders eight states.

May 07, 2008

Cheerleaders, Presidents and Whales

Phyllis Smith, who plays Phyllis Vance on NBC's The Office, is a former cheerleader for the NFL's St. Louis Cardinals.

Since the Civil War, Jimmy Carter, Lyndon Johnson and Franklin Roosevelt are the only Democratic presidents to have won more than 50% of the popular vote.

Humpback whales in Baja California sing the same songs as those in Hawaii.

May 06, 2008

Gunslingers, Saints and Cotton Pickers

Wild Bill Hickok's real name was James Butler Hickok.

Saint Andrew is the patron saint of both Scotland and Russia.

Before he was the Godfather of Soul, singer James Brown worked a variety of less glamorous jobs, including cotton-picker.

May 05, 2008

Cinco de Mayo, Gravediggers and Heisman High Schools

The battle commemorated on Cinco de Mayo was fought during the U.S. Civil War.

Among the roster of former gravediggers at London's Highgate Graveyard is singer Rod Stewart.

Santa Ana, California's Mater Dei High School  (John Huarte '61 and Matt Leinart '01) and Dallas, Texas's Woodrow Wilson High School (Davey O'Brien and Tim Brown) are the only two high schools in the nation with two Heisman-trophy winning alumni.

May 04, 2008

Old Eateries, Precious Metals and Favorite Films

Casa Botín, in Madrid, Spain, is the world's oldest eatery.

At one time, aluminum was considered a precious metal. Revolutionary extraction techniques led to 99% price declines and ended its brief period of extreme value.

Life is Beautiful was the late Pope John Paul II's favorite movie.

May 03, 2008

Horse Races, English-Speakers and Prohibition

The Kentucky Derby is the oldest continually held sports event in the United States (1875); the second oldest is the Westminister Kennel Club Dog Show (1876).

Guyana is the only English-speaking nation in South America.

Among the platforms promoted by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932 was a pledge to end National Prohibition.

May 02, 2008

Old Founders, Gifts from God and California Employers

The founder of the fast food chain called Fatburger lived to the ripe old age of 96.

Matthew means "Gift from God."

USC is the 3rd largest private employer in California.

May 01, 2008

Drives, Lei Day and Finals Games

A drive by Tiger Woods leaves the club at 180 mph. The world's longest drivers can get the ball to velocities as high as 200 mph.

In Hawaii, May Day is also known as Lei Day.

About one out of every 33 people who saw any given game from the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals did so in person.